Month: May 2024

Tune in to the Tunes

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

Where has the merry month of May gone? It’s darn near Memorial Day. Which means it’s hot dog grilling season. Let’s be careful out there.

Speaking o’ sizzlin’ hot and tasty, feast your ears on the new album from Mammoth Penguins:

Public service reminder: Do not attempt to grill mammoth penguins.

Speaking o’ cool like penguins, Inhailer Radio is currently spinning the 2024 Indie 500. From the press release:

For those who may not know, Inhailer Radio is deeply rooted in the legacies of two iconic predecessors: WOXY and WNKU. WOXY, also known as “97X,” was a trailblazer in the world of alternative and indie music, while WNKU was renowned for its commitment to showcasing local and independent talent. These stations laid the foundation for what Inhailer Radio stands for today. In 2023, we had the honor of hosting the highly successful 97X Modern Rock 500, a nostalgic reunion for listeners and DJs alike. This year, we’re building upon that success with the Indie 500, marking a “passing of the baton” from 97X’s Modern Rock 500 to Inhailer Radio’s Indie 500.

This 2024 Indie 500 grants a nod to the rich histories and contributions of WOXY and WNKU, as well as a celebration of our vibrant Cincinnati independent music community. Inspired by the legendary Memorial Day marathons hosted by 97X, The Indie 500 will showcase the top 500 indie songs curated by our team of dedicated music enthusiasts.

Former WOXY, WNKU, and Inhailer Radio DJs will be joining us for this historic event, hosting their own segments and sharing their unique perspectives and insights. It’s a chance for them to pay homage to the stations they once called home and the audiences they once captivated.

List member and longtime 97X staffer Dave Tellmann and I teamed up to do a few breaks. Because we’re both half-wits, so we figured two heads would be better than one.

Geez, would you look at the time? Here I’ve been prattling on and it’s practically Memorial Day Weekend. I’ll take the “Live Music” category for $200 please, Alex.

Wednesday night, RiversEDGE in Hamilton (city motto: “Quit calling us Hamil-tucky – we have craft breweries now!”) opens their outdoor concert season with Scotty Bratcher and GA-20. And 21 Savage plays Riverbend (unless it’s underwater.)

On Thursday, it’s Orgy Time!

Uh, the band Orgy plays the Madison Theater to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their album Candyass.

Speakin’ o’ candyass, your Peeps should be sufficiently stale by now. Have at ’em!

Tab Benoit plays Madison Theater on Friday, and The Broken Relics play the Southgate Lounge.

On Saturday, it’s time for Boys’ Life:

The Po’ Ramblings Boys and the Whiskey Bent Valley Boys play Southgate’s Revival Room.

That same evening, Don Was and the Pan Detroit Ensemble play Memorial Hall.

Speakin’ o’ Pan Detroit:

Laura Jane Grace graces the Madison Theater stage on Sunday. Sunday is also race day in Indianapolis.

Monday is Memorial Day.

You can enjoy your day off from work by checking out the movie Brainiac: Transmissions After Zero at the Woodward Theater.

Next Tuesday (5/28), Parliament Funkadelic plays the Bobby Brady, with special guest Dumpstaphunk.

Next Wednesday (5/29), Flock of Dimes (a.k.a. Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak) is playing a house concert in Cincy. Actually, the venue will be an art gallery in Mariemont. Hard to believe an Undertow artist would want to play anywhere other than my place, but it happens sometimes. Nevertheless, I’ll be there as a paying customer.

I have an extra ticket – HMU if you’d like to join me. That same evening, Mr. Big (the band, not the “Sex & The City” character) plays Ludlow Garage, and TyeDye (feat. list member John Sandman) plays Wunderbar in Covington.

On Thursday, 5/30:

  • Ruth Moody of The Wailin’ Jennys plays Ludlow
  • Ben Chapman & Co with Abby Hamilton at RiversEDGE in Hamilton
  • Camp Springs Tavern hosts a bluegrass jam

Gigs on Friday, 5/31:

  • Brainiac plays the Woodward with opener Exit Angles
  • Leftover Salmon is at the old Annie’s

Speakin’ o’ Leftover Salmon:

But that’s just the appetizer. The main course is on Saturday, June 1st:

Hooray and huzzah! Cereal Killers will be bringing their vintage punk and new wave music to Big Ash Brewing. For the uninitiated, the standard “CK One” rules will apply: I will buy your first beer. No coupon necessary!

Other 6/1 shows:

  • Railbird kicks off in Lexington (lineup is here)
  • Highly Likely plays Plain Folk Café
  • Tommy James & the Shondells play Ludlow Garage
  • Pokey LaFarge plays Memorial Hall

Speakin’ o’ Pokey:

On Sunday, June 2nd, you can catch Day 2 of Railbird or see birds of a different feather: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong at the Ovation in Newport.

And don’t forget the big Pixies/Modest Mouse/Cat Power show at the Jan Brady on Wednesday, June 5th.

Speakin’ o’ Cat Power:

I let you down (yet again)

I forgot to mention Kraftwerk’s gig at Ovation in my last post. So sorry. To make it up to you, here’s some exclusive live footage from the show:

In my defense, the gig was a bit of an outlier.

The Engineer has left the station

Steve Albini didn’t produce your favorite album. But only because he didn’t like the “producer” label. He did work the knobs for Pixies, The Breeders, Nirvana, PJ Harvey, and hundreds of other bands, both big and small, often for a fraction of the market rate. He passed away earlier this month, just as his band Shellac’s new album came out. Matthew Berlyant pays tribute to Steve here.

We love live music

But we need to catch our breath after a great run of shows: GBV/Wussy at Madison Theater (tons of list members at that gig), Wussy at The Lodge in Dayton, KY (with list member Dave Roberto), Wussy at my house (several list members in attendance), Robbie Fulks/Scott Miller at Southgate (with noted Cereal Killer Howard Cohen in the house), They Might Be Giants at Madison Theater (hat tip to list member Chris Jones for the ticket – list member Jason Hipskind also was there)… and last but certainly not least, Violent Femmes at the old Annie’s.

The Violent Femmes concert featured a cavalcade of list members, including Ken “Lobby Boy” Laube (Fridays 11a-3p on Inhailer Radio), Dave Tellmann and his rock star son Joe (This Pine Box), Todd Butler, John Sandman (Tye Dye Band), and Chuck and Christine Ackerman. Chuck and Christine (a.k.a. “C+C Music Factory”) get a special shout-out for some way-too-kind words about this lousy little music blog/newsletter/dog’s breakfast. Clearly they had been overserved.

It’s hard to explain the ’70s… but here’s a crash course

After my Star Wars references in the last post, list member “Rowdy” Rob Ervin shared the gem below. As Rob said: Redd Foxx, Kris Kristofferson, Paul Lynde:  TV Magic! I don’t know if hard core Star Wars fans count this as canon, but they should. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/U4dlah65c9A

And of course I’m such a voiceover nerd that I thought I detected the dulcet tones of the legendary Thurl Ravenscroft (original voice of Tony the Tiger and singer of the Grinch song… and Disney’s “Grim Grinning Ghosts”… as Darth). But he wasn’t listed in the credits. Sure enough, the interwebs confirmed my eardrums:

Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)

Praise hands! Because Amy Grant and leg warmers go together like peas and carrots. Or like Amy Grant and The Young Fresh Fellows:

May the tunes be with you

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

It’s almost time for that very special holiday:

Uh, not May the 4th… a.k.a. Spock’s birthday. Or maybe his “Life Day.”

The big day is May 10th – members of Wussy are playing a gig at my house. It’s the 3rd appearance for Chuck & Lisa, and to celebrate #3 they’re bringing a third member: Mark Messerly.

Mark and I are twin sons of different mothers – or we just have similar tastes in cool band t-shirts:

BTW, Mark’s solo project INERT has a new album out soon. Here’s the lead track:

But there are plenty of other cool (albeit less exclusive) gigs coming our way in the merry month of May. Let’s eyeball ’em.

Tonight (5/1):

  • The 502s and Daniel Nunnelee play Bogart’s
  • Kelsey Waldon is at Southgate
  • Todd Lipscomb and Easy Mark play MOTR

On Thursday:

  • The Tillers play the “Tunes & Blooms” gig at the Cincinnati Zoo
  • Red Wanting Blue plays Southgate
  • Camp Springs Tavern hosts the bi-weekly Bluegrass Jam
  • The Breakers (a tribute to Tom Petty… or to ’91 Keanu and Swayze) play Ludlow Garage

Friday night, the Wussy Trio (Chuck, Lisa, Mark) plays The Lodge in Dayton, KY.

That same evening, local Mumford-adjacent band Jim Trace & The Makers plays Arnold’s. That group features two of my co-workers… and a name clearly dreamt up on the bourbon aisle of a liquor store. (Perhaps “Cabooze” – the train caboose retrofitted to be a liquor store that was a famous landmark in Newport, KY.)

Saturday, in the new-Newport, Ovation hosts The Ultimate Doors: a tribute to The Doors. (Now I really miss the old Sin City… and the doors of Cabooze.)

Shows on Tuesday, May 7th:

  • Rufus Wainwright plays Ludlow Garage
  • Stiff Little Fingers are at Bogart’s (and also on my pickleball paddle hand)
  • The Messthetics (drummer Brendan Canty and bassist Joe Lally from Fugazi) play the Woodward. Opener is James Brandon Lewis w/Siren Suit

Kamasi Washington plays Ludlow on Wednesday, 5/8, and EXTC (with XTC drummer Terry Chambers) plays Radio Artifact.

On Thursday, 5/9, it’s time to bust out the pipe.

The Verve Pipe plays the Woodward Theater. That same evening, Tenille Townes (no relation to “Captain &” or “Van Zandt”) plays Ludlow, and Thievery Corporation plays Bogart’s. Thievery Corporation has a pretty cool logo:

Hah, that’s just a little good-natured ribbing there, my IRS friends… no need to audit me for that jibe. My “Cabooze” deductions are research expenses, and therefore completely legit!

On Friday, May 10th, Chuck Cleaver, Lisa Walker, and Mark Messerly of Wussy will be playing in my living room! (A rare occasion when I’m not the only wussy in the house…)

That same evening, Stanley Clarke plays the first of two nights at Ludlow. And Southern Culture on the Skids plays Southgate. Their poster is pretty cool:

Stanley Clarke is back at it on Saturday, 5/11 at Ludlow Garage.

Other 5/11 shows:

  • Robbie Fulks and Scott Miller play Southgate’s Revival Room (I’ll be at that gig)
  • Snõõper. Fruit Loops and The Serfs play the Woodward (list member Dave Tellmann’s son Jack produced some Snõõper tracks and has an engineering credit on their new album)
  • Bendigo Fletcher is in Southgate’s main room

Social Distortion and Bad Religion play the Cindy Brady on Sunday, May 12th, and Tommy Prine plays Southgate.

(My neighbors occasionally listen to live Wussy too!)

They Might Be Giants play a two-night “An Evening with…” stand at the Madison Theater on 5/14 and 5/15. The bill promises “2 very different shows. 8 piece band. 3 horns. 2 sets. 0 openers. Starts early. Gets loud.”

Another cool gig on Wednesday, May 15th is Parker Millsap and Robert Ellis doing the solo acoustic thing at Southgate.

There’s another bluegrass hootenanny at Camp Springs Tavern on Thursday, 5/16. Bring your own instrument.

Also on 5/16, Kraftwerk is playing the Ovation in Newport.

Friday, May 17th is a big night for shows:

  • The Violent Femmes will play their first two albums in a row during a show at the old Annie’s (I’ll be there. I already bought tickets… I got “two, two, two for my family” but now my son can’t go, so LMK if you want my extra, free of charge.)
  • The Secret Sisters play Southgate, with special guest Tyler Ramsey, formerly of Band of Horses
  • The jam band Houseplant plays Madison Theater
  • Ludlow Garage hosts “Live at the Fillmore – the definitive Allman Brothers tribute”
  • Saxon and Uriah Heep will rock Bogart’s… well, it’s more like Sagsome and Heap of Urologists now, but still, more power to ’em.

On Saturday, May 18th, the PNC Pavilion opens the shed season with… Brit Floyd… celebrating the 30th anniversary of a post-Roger/”meh” PF album (The Division Bell). (Sigh.) But at least on your way in, you can check out the progress on the destruction of the beloved Coney Island Pool. Maybe this guy can save it:

Webb Wilder closes out the weekend with a 70th Birthday Bash at Southgate House on Sunday, May 19th.

Love it live

Suzanne Vega put on a great show at Memorial Hall, and it was great to see quite a few list members there, including Janet W., who hooked me up with the presale code for Jayhawks tickets. Score!

Alvvays played a great set at Bogart’s. I went with list members “Deuce” and Matt V. List member Mighty Joe Sampson also was there with his 21-year-old daughter Maggie.

The GBV/Wussy show at Madison Theater was top-notch. Great to hear the full Wussy band. List members David and Amy Groff were there, but their daughter Maggie wasn’t… she’d better up her concert game!

John P. Strohm (Blake Babies, Lemonheads, Antenna, Velo-Deluxe) wrote a really nice Substack post about Guided By Voices. Check it out here.

The Far Side said it best

Then again, it beats the alternative. But old age does create some challenges:

Visual/caption above from this New Yorker piece called “How to dress for a concert in your thirties.”

Fast forward a generation and this happens:

Album Cover of the Week(s)

Ever the gracious hosts/hostess. Hold the lobster. But bring your dentures!